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How not to lose your marbles: Maclean's

New "brain fitness programs" are reversing the cognitive effects of aging
by 10 years or more. With baby boomers careening towards their 60s, will
brain fitness be the secret to staying sharp in old age? Also in the
issue of Maclean's hitting newsstands starting this Thursday: Quebec's
new quiet revolution, and Mark Steyn's coverage of the Conrad Black
trial.
TORONTO, March 29 /CNW/ - Boomers are turning 50 at a rate of one every
7.5 seconds. On Jan. 1, 2006, the first boomer turned 60. Over the next two
decades, 77 million more will follow. And what they'll find is that, like it
or not, their brains will cut back on producing important chemicals. And
they'll start to forget little things, like where they left their car keys, or
the name of their next-door neighbour, or why it was they came to the grocery
store in the first place. "Compounding this anxiety," reports Maclean's Senior
Editor Lianne George, "is the fact that boomers' parents are living longer
than any generation ever has - well into their 80s and 90s - making boomers
the first cohort to witness that cognitive decline in such large numbers." An
estimated 23 per cent of people over 65 have mild cognitive impairment (MCI),
and every year, roughly one-fifth of those are diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease. By 2030, according to the Alzheimer's Association, nearly
eight million adults will suffer from the disease in the U.S. alone.
Enter Posit Science Brain Fitness. True, it sounds like something that
might be advertised with a free set of Ginsu knives, but the Posit Science
program is the result of decades of neurological research conducted by some of
the world's leading brain scientists, writes George. Posit's chief scientific
officer, Dr. Michael Merzenich, is a pioneer of neurophysiology who helped
invent the cochlear ear implant. He leads a team of 50 brain scientists from
top universities around the world, including Yale, Cambridge and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in developing non-invasive training
programs to reverse age-related cognitive decline. Early clinical trials are
showing that its program reverses the cognitive effects of aging by an average
of 10 years, and sometimes much more.
Quebec's Quiet Revolution - It's all good news for Stephen Harper
In one night, Quebec's political landscape changed. The results are
irrefutable: Quebec's separatist dream is fading and a new smalltown
conservatism is on the rise. But is Canada saved or doomed by la belle
province's political about-face? Read more in this week's Maclean's.
Mark Steyn on Conrad Black
Hours of non-compete nitpicking, a clock-watching jury, and a government
that has yet to answer the question: "Where's the crime?" Week two of the
Conrad Black trial, in this week's Maclean's.
About Maclean's:
Maclean's is Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine.
Maclean's enlightens, engages and entertains 2.9 million readers with strong
investigative reporting and exclusive stories from leading journalists in the
fields of international affairs, social issues, national politics, business
and culture. Visit www.macleans.ca.